Fountain pen



L. CHAYKA FOUNTAIN PEN Ndv. 24,1936.

Filed July 20, 1955 W 6 5 0 "a "z 2%67163 a/ 4.1

Patented Nov. 24, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 6 Claims.

My invention pertains to improvements in fountain pens and particularly in filling means for fountain pens using transparent barrels. There is already a number of such pens on the market but'the majority of them have certain disadvantages and faults. Some of them are too complicated and diflicult to manufacture, some are likely'to develop leaks, and others can be filled with ink only gradually by repeated operations.

It is agreed that the best pen at present is the common variety using a rubber sack, except for the fact that the pen does not show the quantity of. ink therein. The purpose of my invention, therefore, is to combine the best qualities of the ordinary sack pen with the advantages of the pen employing a transparent barrel showing the level of ink therein. More specifically, my object is to provide:-

1st; A pen that has a transparent barrelv and uses an improved filling device.

2nd. A filling device that is simple in construction and operation.

3rd. Afilling'device that may be removed from the barrel as a unit.

4th. A filling device that will fill the pen with one stroke of a pushbutton or one turn of a knob.

5th. A. filling device that will not be likely to get out of order.

6th. A filling device that will draw into the barrel a large quantity of. ink.

7th; A filling device that may be wedged into the? barrel. without the. need of any cement.

8th. A filling device that will be durable, economical, easily manufactured and easily assembled;

I. accomplished all these purposes by novel means, namely, by using in the barrel of the pen a rubber sack or a rubber tube closed at one end, not as an ink reservoir but as a means of varying the inkcarrying capacity of the barrel. Ink in my My invention exists, not only in the construction, arrangement and combination of the various parts, whereby the objects contemplated are obtained by them, but especially in the broader idea of expanding or collapsing the rubber sack mechanically for the purpose of expelling or drawing in ink contained in the barrel outside of the sack as set above. Once this principle has been disclosed, it will be quite possible to devise a number of different structures to carry out the the idea without materially departing from my '5 original conception as disclosed;

Selecting a fountain pen incorporating the preferred construction of my filling device, I will explain it by reference to the accompanying drawing, in which 10 Fig. 1 presents a longitudinal section of the pen.

Fig. 2 presents a. section across the barrel on line 2-2.

Fig. 3 presents a longitudinal section of a-difl5 ferent species of a pen employing a pushbutton.

Fig. 4 presents a section across the barrel of the pen on line 4-4.

Fig. 5 presents a magnified illustration of a detail of the pen shown in Fig. 3.

The pen, as shown in Fig. 1, comprises a barrel Ill, into the lower end of which is secured the usual section I I with a feed bar I2, groove l3 and a penpoint l4, arranged inthe customary manner, except that the feed bar may project somewhat into 25 the barrel as shown.

The upper end of the barrel is closed with a plug l5 drilled centrally, said plug being of a slightly smaller diameter in its lower half to accommodate the upper end of the rubber sack l6, which is 30 tightly wedged between the plug and the inside wall of the barrel Ill. The sack is wedged in such a manner that neither airnor liquid may pass from or into the barrel at any point around the plug. Quite obviously, the upper end of the sack 35 may be cemented to the lower end of the plug without being wedged as above stated or it may be otherwise secured to the plug and the plug cemented or threaded into the end of the barrel.

The rubber sack l6, extending substantially the full length of the barrel, is closed at its lower end. It is of a diameter large enough to occupy practically the whole space of the barrel when fully expanded. Normally, however, the sack is collapsed, as shown in Fig. 2, occupying in its collapsed state but a small space of the inside of the barrel. Firmly, attached to one side of the plug I5, is a thin rigid shell I'!, arcuate in shape, parallel to the inside surface of the wall of the 50 barrel and extending in a close proximity of said wall straight down within a short distance of the feeding bar I2. At this point, it narrows and turns at the right angle towards the center of the barrel, in the form of a straight arm [8, 55

above said feeding bar. At its end above the said feeding bar, the arm I8 is provided with a socket of the barrel, and terminates in a transverse lug 24 rotatably supported in socket I9.

Normally, the movable shell 23 nestles 'inthe concave recess formed by the curved surface of the stationary shell When the shells are in this position, they occupy as little space as possible. When rotated by means of the knob 2|, in

either direction, the movable shell is capable of describing a complete circle. Both shells are enclosed by the aforementioned rubber sack I6 and rest upon the upper end of the feeding bar |2 to add stability to the shells. 25 is a cap provided with a thread on'the inside lower surface and fits over the correspondingly threaded upper part of the plug l5.

Referring to Fig. 2, numeral l0 shows the wall of the barrel; the rubber sack. I6 is collapsed, with the two shells, the stationary I! and movable 23, in a normal, before-operative position. The dotted outline l6 shows the position of the sack when it is expanded, while the dotted outline 23" shows the position of the movable shell 23 when the same has been turned I80 degrees from its normal position in order to expand the rubber sack I6. 34 and34" are heads at the edges of the shells to prevent them from interlocking. r

In Fig. 3, I have illustrated a difierentconstruction of my pen, in which I am using a pushbutton at the top of the pen to cause the expansion of the rubber sack or tube.

In this figure, I0 is the wall of the barrel; parts |2, |3, |4, l5 and I6 are the same as-in Fig. 1. Sack I6 is of a diameter large enough to occupy practically the whole interior space when fully expanded.

Normally, however, it is collapsed into a flattened shape, as shown in Fig. 4, and occupies the central section of the barrel, as shown in said Fig. 4.

Slidably in the center of the plugv I5 is located a short rod 20, the upper end .of which outside the barrel, ends in a push-button 26. The lower end of the said rod is within the barrel and within the sack I6. Hinged to the lowerend of the rod are two semi-circular leaves 21 and. 28, so disposed with relation to each other that when spread, they present the appearance of a disk. The semi-circular leaves are free to swing up and down from the hinge. This is shown in Fig. 5. Hinged to the lower ends of the semicircular leaves 2! and 28, are stiff strips 29 and 30, preferably made of metal and extending down within a small distance from the bottom of the barrel where the strips are joined to a similar pair of semi-circular leaves 3| and 32, except that the leaves point upward from their hinge The purpose of these semi-circular leaves is to expand the sack into a round tube that it may occupy as much space as possible. To that end additional pairs of leaves between the two pairs already mentioned might be introduced if found desirable.

Normally, the rubber sack being collapsed and under the pressure from the said normally collapsed rubber sack, the leaves, both the upper ones and the lower ones, are folded together as shown in dotted outline 21 and 28", also 3|" and 32". The strips, also brought together by the position of the leaves and the pressure of the sack, occupy positions 29" and 30".

The rubber sack, secured in an air and watertight manner at the top of the barrel between the plug I5 and the inner surface of the barrel,

envelopes all said leaves and side strips and, as

' before stated, is in a collapsed position l6".

Fig. 4 shows a section of the pen across the barrel on line 4-4, l0 being the wall of the barrel, Hi the sack, 29 and 30 the side strips when brought together as stated above.

Fig. 5 shows the detailed construction of the upper leaves 21 and 28 with the pushrod ZU-at- .tached to the hinge supporting the leaves. Strips 29 and 30 are presented fractionally.

The following is the manner in which the pen shown in Fig. 1 may be filled with ink: The barrel being empty and the rubber sack I6 being in its normal collapsed state, I turn the knob 20 completely around. In doing so, I first bring the arcuate movable shell 23 diametrically in opp'osition to the stationary arcuate shell l1 as shown in Fig. 2, where it is presented to occupy position 23". As a result the rubber sack I6 is expanded fully and most of the air contained in the barrel is expelled. When, however, the rotation of the movable shell 23 continues, and the shell on completion of the full 360 degrees turn, assumes the original position within the stationaryshell. II, the rubber sack collapses again to its foriginal shape and the partial vacuum resulting therefrom in the barrel causes ink to be drawn into the barrel.

To expel ink from the barrel all that is necessary is to again turn the knob around its axis, which as stated above, will through the instrumentality of the arcuate shells, expand the sack and cause the ink to flow out from the barrel.

The barrel of the pen shown in Fig. 3 isfilled by depressing down the push button 20. 1

When the rod is depressed it causes'the semicircular leaves and strips hinged thereto tospread apart and to expand the sack.|6. The expansion of the sack expels most of the air fromthe barrel. When the pressure from the pushrod is removed, the leaves and the strips come together under the pressure of the enveloping rubber sack in the barrel, which vacuum causes ink to be drawn into the barrel. Toexpel ink, all that is necessary is to press again the button 26 on the top of the pushrod 2|I.

There is a number of other constructions that suggest themselves for the same purpose of mechanically expanding the sack and they can be easily designed by anyone endowed with ordinary mechanical skill. The above described constructions are only samplesof what can be done and it is plain that other designs of the same nature are possible and may be made withoutdeparting from the principle of my disclosures. I, therefore, wish my invention to embraceall such changes, variations, and modifications as will naturally suggest themselves to persons skilled in the fountain pen art.

What I claim is:

1. A fountain pen comprising an ink carrying barrel a grooved feeding bar and a penpoint set at one end thereof, a normally collapsed expansible sack open at one end, set at the other end of the barrel and extending substantially the whole length of the barrel, tangible mechanical means within said sack, operable from without to cause the sack to expand to occupy substantially the whole space of the barrel and in turn to cause the said sack to collapse to its original shape.

2. In a fountain pen of the kind described, filling means comprising an expansible, normally collapsed sack, set at one end of the barrel and extending substantially the whole length thereof, the said sack being closed at the lower end and open at its upper end, two elongated arcuate shells, pivotally joined at both ends, placed within the said sack and one of said shells being capable of being moved with relation to the other so as to be placed diametrically in opposition to the other or closely within the other and means to operate said movable shell.

3. In a fountain pen of the kind described, an expansible sack normally collapsed, placed within the barrel of the pen and extending substantially the whole length of the barrel, and means to expand said sack consisting of a stationary elongated member placed within the sack close to its wall and a similar movable member also within the sack to bear against the opposite wall of same when manually actuated by means outside the sack.

4. In a fountain pen of the kind described, filling means consisting of an expansible sack set at one end of the barrel and means to expand said sack comprising a pushrod, placed slidably in the plug closing the mouth of the sack, a pair of spreadable semi-circular leaves placed within the sack and directly beneath the pushrod, and at least another pair of similar leaves at the lower end of the sack, a pair of strips hingedly connecting the said pairs of leaves, said leaves being normally in a collapsed folded position, but being capable of being spread under the action of the said pushrod.

5. In a fountain pen comprising a barrel, a feeding bar and a penpoint set at one end thereof, a normally collapsed expansible sack open at one end, set at the other end of the barrel and extending the whole length of same, a plurality of elongated members placed within the sack and means to spread apart said members to bear against and to expand the walls of the said sack.

6. In a fountain pen a barrel, a normally collapsed sack therein and means within the sack bearing against the walls thereof, operable from without, to expand same.

LOUIS CHAYKA. 

